Australian upstream company Bounty Oil said it has outlined a ‘busy’ schedule of exploration and production activities in Africa, Australia and New Zealand for this year. It recently drilled the Nyuni-1 well in offshore Tanzania, West Africa to a depth of 3,355 metres. The field has an estimated 260 million barrels of oil reserves and...
SYDNEY (AFX-ASIA) – Woodside Petroleum Ltd said its sales revenue in 2003 fell around 8% year-on-year to A$2.059 billion, with fourth quarter sales down 21.5% at A$435.4 million. (US$1=A$1.3). In its quarterly production report, the oil and gas producer said total gas and oil output fell to 13.796 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) for...
Australian upstream company Origin Energy Resources Limited has announced that drilling has begun at the Kingia 1 exploration well located at the onshore Perth Basin Production Licence L1. Drilling of the well operated by ARC Energy began on January 16 using the Century 24 drilling rig. The well is located nine kilometres southwest of the...
SHANGHAI (AFX-ASIA) – China has overtaken Japan to become the world’s second largest consumer of crude oil after the US, the Financial Times reported. The report cited International Energy Agency estimates showing that China consumed 5.46 million barrels a day last year, compared with Japan’s 5.43 million, and that China was the main driver behind...
MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp (PSALM) has scheduled to sell a group of small power generating facilities in the first quarter of the year. PSALM is the government agency tasked to privatise the country’s power generating assets currently operated by the National Power Corp. PSALM vice president for marketing...
Papua New Guinea-based Oil Search Limited has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) to develop a strategic alliance Ð a unique arrangement between an independent operator and a major oil and gas contractor. Halliburton subsidiaries Halliburton Overseas Ltd, Kellogg Brown & Root Pty Ltd (KBR) and Halliburton Australia Pty Ltd will...
BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – Officials from China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), China’s largest oil producer, and the parent of Hong Kong-listed PetroChina Co Ltd, have clarified management changes reported in the official China Oil News. An official surnamed Zhang in the audit office said Xue Zhenxiang, its acting chief auditor has not been sacked, as reported...
BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – State-owned electricity group China Power International is preparing an international listing to raise between US$500 million and US$1 billion, a move which would value the generator at up to US$4 billion, the Financial Times reported citing Hong Kong-based bankers. CPI will use the money to expand capacity and buy additional plants to...
Law firm Baker & McKenzie said its BLCP Power Limited deal in Thailand recently was named by Asiamoney as “Project Finance Deal of the Year for 2003”. The award relates to the US$1.3 billion project financing of a 1,400 megawatt (MW) coal-fired power station in Rayong Province in Thailand. Baker & McKenzie acted as English...
“The US and Japan both recognise the contribution research and development can make to the development of a hydrogen economy and to cost-effective technologies to meet future global energy needs,” US Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham said. “International cooperation is key to achieving the hydrogen and fuel cell programme goals outlined by President Bush in...
The following speech was made by Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah, Qatar’s Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy and Industry. Those in attendance at the event in Qatar included Antonio Brufau Niub—, chairman of the Gas Natural Group, Enrique Locutura, CEO of the Gas Natural Group and Carlos Torralba, General Manager for Supplies. “It...
MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – At least 14 foreign companies are expected to participate in the first round of bidding for the country’s petroleum exploration contracts in March, the Department of Energy (DoE) announced. The firms have expressed interest in contracts to explore oil and gas in at least 46 sites in the country, said Energy Undersecretary...
HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) – China’s piped-gas distributor Panva Gas Holdings Ltd (8132.HK) said it is acquiring a 90% stake in Sichuan province-based Yuechi Natural Gas Co for 37 million yuan. (US$1=8.27 yuan). In a statement, Panva said it entered into a non-legally binding agreement detailing its interest to buy the stake from Yuechi municipal government...
PetroChina Company Limited (SEHK stock code 0857; NYSE PTR) said it has achieved all its production and operational targets in 2003, due largely to high international oil prices, the recovery of China’s petrochemical products market and the company’s expanded operations. PetroChina said its domestic crude output rose by 2.3 million barrels to over 770 million...
HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) – Hong Kong-listed Daqing Petroleum and Chemical Group Ltd said chairman Wang Dan Hui will dispose of 151.41 million shares representing a 16.24% stake in the company to an independent party. Mr Wang, who currently holds the shares through his vehicle Noble Resources Investments Ltd, will sell the stake to Master Oriental...
HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) – Heng Tai Consumables Group Ltd (197.HK) said it will acquire a 18.83% stake in Daqing Petroleum and Chemical Group Ltd for HK$86.9 million in a bid to expand into northern China, where Daqing operates. (US$1HK$7.78). In a statement, Heng Tai said it will get a combined 175.56 million Daqing shares at...
The funds are sharing the blame for hyper-elevated oil prices this winter, said French bank SG. The general feeling seems to be that they have “more money than sense”, with the sheer magnitude of the monies they must invest so enormous that they are putting “too much” into long positions in oil futures, creating an...
BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – PetroChina Co Ltd (HK 0857; NYSE PTR) will begin building an oil terminal in Shanghai this spring to meet the increasing demand there, the Shanghai Morning Post reported, without citing sources. The company will invest 150 million yuan in the terminal which can store up to 300,000 cubic meters of fuel. (US$1=8.27...
Australian upstream company Bounty Oil & Gas NL (Bounty) will gain access to energy development projects in Mongolia through a broadened partnership with UK-based company Electro Silica Oil & Gas Plc. Announcing the extended agreement between the two organizations, Bounty managing director Tom Fontaine said the UK company had invited Bounty to be the operator...
MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – The Supreme Court ordered Manila Electric Co (Meralco) today to roll back its power rates to the levels before Jan 1, 2004, when it began implementing an Energy Regulatory Commission-approved provisional tariff hike of 0.12 peso per kilowatthour. (US$1=55 peso). The Supreme Court directed Meralco “to observe the status quo prevailing before...
Australian upstream company Santos Limited has signed a Heads of Agreement (HoA) for the sale of the entire gas reserves of the Maleo field in East Java, Indonesia. As operator for the Madura Offshore Production Sharing Contract (PSC) venture, Santos said the HoA between the venture and PT Perusahaan Gas Negara (PGN), Indonesia’s state-owned gas...
BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – Moody’s Investors Service has said that PetroChina Co Ltd (HK 0857; NYSE PTR), China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec) (SHA 600028; HK 0386; NYSE SNP) and CNOOC Ltd (HK 0883; NYSE CEO) exhibit strong credit characteristics, reflecting their large and long-life reserves and dominant market positions. Terry Fanous, a Moody’s vice-president and...
Singapore-listed China Aviation Oil Corporation Ltd (CAO) has received top national honours for its risk management policies and procedures at China’s 10th Annual Creative Management Awards. The award was given out by the China National Enterprise Federation, a quasi-state agency which counts all of the country’s top enterprises as its members. CAO was the only...
Thailand’s upstream company PTTTEP has been awarded the concession to explore for oil and gas in two onshore blocks in the country. In a statement, the company said it has won the concessions for blocks L53/43 and L54/43 in Suphan Buri province, adjacent to the PTTEP1 project, which is currently under production. PTTEP is the...
TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) – Mitsubishi Corp will start building a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal near Los Angeles in 2004, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported, without citing sources. The terminal, which is scheduled to begin operating in 2008, will likely be the first terminal to receive LNG on the US West Coast. It is expected to...